Eighth Grade Reading List

Fiction

Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White
When Woodrow's mother suddenly disappears, he moves to his grandparents' home in a small Virginia town. There he befriends his cousin, and together they find the strength to face the terrible losses and fears in their lives.
YA FIC White (196p)

Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci
Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.
YA FIC Plum-Ucci (248p)

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
In the year 241, over two centuries after the human race has fled below the earth to escape annihilation, twelve-year-old Lina receives her job on Assignment Day. She is to be a Messenger, able to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.
JUV SF DuPrau (270p)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Aliens have attacked earth and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans prevail in the next encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses and then training them in the art of war using "games" of battle. Ender Wiggin is a genius among geniuses; he completes all the challenges with ease. He is smart enough to know that time is running out. But is can a six-year-old be smart enough to save the planet?
YA SF Card (357p)

Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.
YA FIC Anderson (241p)

Firegold by Dia Calhoun
Thirteen-year-old Jonathon, feared and hated by the brown-eyed Valley people because of his blue eyes, tries to find answers to his true identity in the Red Mountains, home of the Dalriada, a mountain people with magnificent horses, mystical powers, and blue eyes, just like his.
YA SF Calhoun (285p)

Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl
Rather than marry a cruel king or a seemingly dim-witted prince, an enchanted goose girl endures imprisonment, capture by several ogresses, and many other dangers, before finally discovering exactly who she is.
YA FIC Kindl (214p)

Hole in the Sky by Pete Hautman
In a future world ravaged by a mutant virus, sixteen-year-old Ceej and three other teenagers seek to save the Grand Canyon from being flooded, while simultaneously trying to avoid capture by a band of renegade Survivors.
YA SF Hautman (179p)

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.
YA FIC Bauer (186p)

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States. However, his comfortable existence is soon threatened by intrusions from the outside world; the time comes where he will have to escape the rigid mental bonds that have been placed upon him and be free.
YA SF Farmer (380p)

Hush by Jacquiline Woodson
Toswiah Green's life ended the moment her policeman father decided to testify against his fellow officers. The Greens have had to change their identities and move to a different city. Now Toswiah is Evie Thomas, and this is the least of the changes.
YA FIC Woodson (181p)

Ironman by Chris Crutcher
While training for a triathlon, 17-year-old Bo attends an anger management group at school, which leads him to examine his relationship with his father and his whole life.
YA FIC Crutcher (181p)

Life History of a Star by Kelly Easton
For more than a year, fourteen-year-old Kristin uses her diary to record her confused thoughts about the physical changes brought on by adolescence and the emotional strain on her family of living with the "ghost" of her beloved older brother who was physically and mentally destroyed while serving in Vietnam.
YA FIC Easton (200p)

Memory Boy by Will Weaver
Sixteen-year-old Miles and his family must flee their Minneapolis home and begin a new life in the wilderness after a chain of cataclysmic volcanic explosions creates dangerous conditions in their city.
YA FIC Weaver (152p)

The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo
Smuggled out of Nigeria after their mother's murder, Sade and her younger brother are abandoned in London when their uncle fails to meet them at the airport. They are terrified of their new surroundings and as they struggle to survive, they worry about what may have happened to their journalist father back in Nigeria.
YA FIC Naidoo (252p)

Ransom of Mercy Carter by Caroline Cooney
In 1704, in the English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, eleven-year-old Mercy and her family and neighbors are captured by Mohawk Indians and their French allies, and forced to march through bitter cold to French Canada, where some adapt to new lives and some still hope to be ransomed.
YA FIC Cooney (249p)

Sights by Susanna Vance
Despite years of abuse at the hands of her drunken father, Baby Girl has always believed that she was special, partly because of her "gift" of seeing the future, until she and her mother set out to begin a new life on their own.
YA FIC Vance (215p)

The Stones of Mourning Creek by Diane Les-Becquets
In Alabama in the 1960s, fourteen-year-old Francie develops a controversial and dangerous friendship with a colored girl her own age.
YA FIC Les-Becquets (306p)

Thief of Dreams by Todd Strasser
Thirteen-year-old Martin's parents are always too busy making money to pay much attention to him, so he enjoys the attention he gets from his Uncle Lawrence, until he discovers that his uncle has a secret life.
YA FIC Strasser (160p)

Things Not Seen by Andrew Clement
When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his condition and how to reverse it.
YA FIC Clement (251p)

Who Will Tell My Brother? by Marlen Carvell
During his lonely crusade to remove offensive mascots from his high school, a Native American teenager learns more about his heritage, his ancestors, and his place in the world.
YA FIC Carvell (150p)

Nonfiction

911: Book of Help edited by Michael Cart
A collection of essays, poems, short fiction, and drawings created in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by authors and illustrators of books for young adults.
YA 810.80358N622N(178p) 2002

Buddha In Your Backpack: Everyday Buddhism for Teens by Franz Metcalf
Most YA guide-to-life books try to be hip by using lots of slang, but here's a handbook that wins its hipness the hard way: by using good humor and the wisdom of a 2,500-year-old man.
YA 294.3 M565B (244p) 2003

The Book of Lists for Teens by Sandra & Harry Choron
Presents more than 300 lists about everything from music videos to video games, Internet to extreme sports, and self-image to social activism.
YA 031.02 C436T (322p) 2002

Caught By the Sea: My Life on Boats by Gary Paulsen
Gary Paulsen, author of Hatchet and other adventure novels, tells about his lifelong love of sailing, boats he has owned, and the storms, sharks, and peaceful lagoons he has experienced on his voyages.
YA 928.1 P285C (103p) 2001

D.I.Y. Girl : The Real Girl's Guide to Making Everything from Lip-gloss to Lamps by Jennifer Bonnell
A step-by-step guide to making clothes, beauty products, fashion accessories, and decorative items for the home using commonly available materials.
YA 745.5 B643D (85p) 2003

Forensic Science by Brian Innes
An intriguing look at this constantly changing field of scientific investigation. The minute details of crime-scene investigation and painstaking laboratory examination of evidence are described and the abundance of color photographs and the international scope of the subject make this an informative read.
YA 363.25 IN64F (96p) 2003

For Teens Only: Quotes, Notes & Advice You Can Use by Carol Weston
Sage advice, complete with 573 relevant and inspiring quotes, is the main focus of this interesting and upbeat self-help book.
YA 646.7 W528Fb (248p) 2003

Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull
This book turns the spotlight on women who have wielded power, revealing their feats--and flaws--for the entire world to see. Here you'll find twenty of the most influential women in history: queens, warriors, prime ministers, first ladies, revolutionary leaders. Some are revered. Others are notorious. What were they really like?
YA 923.108 K939E (95p) 2000

The Ride of My Life by Mat Hoffman
Matt Hoffman, BMX freestyler, reveals the ups and downs of his own life and the story of the sport he helped define.
YA 796.62 H675R (311p) 2002

Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets Compiled by Paul B. Janeczko
Letters of advice from 32 of today's best poets for teens are accompanied by their poems.
YA 811.608 SE32S (132p) 2002

Shattered: Stories of Children and War edited by Jennifer Armstrong
Twelve thought-provoking stories by as many writers cover a wide range of settings and conflicts.
YA 808.8381 SH25S (166p) 2002

The Struggle to Be Strong: True Stories by Teens About Overcoming Tough Times edited by Al Desetta and Sybil Wolin
First-person accounts of teenagers who overcame major life obstacles with insight, independence, initiative, creativity, humor, and morality.
YA 305.235 ST89S (179p) 2000

Teen Power Politics: Make Yourself Heard by Sara Jane Boyers
This book proves you can make a difference before you can actually vote. Learn how voting works, how to be media literate, and how to become politically active before you turn 18!
YA 232.042 B695T (120p) 2000

Teen's Vegetarian Cookbook by Judy Krizmanic
Recipes for all types of vegetarian dishes are accompanied by information and advice on vegetarian diet and quotes from teenage vegetarians.
YA 641.5636 K899T (186p) 1999

Things I Have to Tell You: Poems and Writing by Teenage Girls edited by Betsy Franco
A collection of poems, stories, and essays written by girls twelve to eighteen years of age and revealing the secrets, which enabled them to overcome the challenges they faced.
YA 810.8 T348T (63p) 2001

What Are My Rights? 95 Questions and Answers about the Law by Thomas A. Jacobs
Provides information to help the reader understand laws, recognize responsibilities, and appreciate rights especially in relation to parents, school, job, and personal matters.
YA 346.0135J155W (199p) 1997

Updated by Karen Peterson 4/05; Holdings checked 7/06 KRL

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